Show 1 queen wen aligned A n nes lace 6 j by frances parkinson keyes Q francea xeres keye service CHAPTER XI continued 27 because when the time came cai no that W we e really needed to spend I 1 wanted to be able to do it and I 1 think the time has come 1 I see said neal a little ironically am I 1 permitted to ask just how bow these vast sums are tobe to be squandered since I 1 am to earn them neal darling darlia dont talk about it in that tonet vou you know how hard bard it was to find even this crowded little house that we could rent add you know how uncomfortable weve been in it nil all winter 1 I 1 want you to let me begin hunting now for a house that we can live in suitably next winter and buy it in other words he said dryly 1 I 1 suppose you have got your eye on one already alrea dYl I 1 and as anne colored and gave ga ve a little laugh he laughed too and sat eat down beside her all right tell me about it it Is in georgetown anne breathed b excitedly an old house rather rathe r badly adly b out of repair P georgetown I 1 interrupted neal contemptuously owhy why full of shacks and riffraff riff raff ran I 1 what on earth do you want to go there tori because the best values in real estate are there said anne proudly it used to be the court end of town towa and was a metropolis before washington even ext existed now the lovely colonial houses are being snapped up again and soon there wont be any left people are moving out there so fast this house I 1 like Is a big square brick one on a corner comer lot and its a great bargain of course it needs a lot done to it but 11 but you could supervise the improvements prove ments this spring while I 1 am leading a celibate life slaving away in Hin well how much would it cost all told the house Is only five thousand dollars if we pay cash for it I 1 should have to spend at least that much more on repairs rs and then them of course I 1 should have to furnish it 1 I see you want at least fifteen thousand dollars then 1 I want more than that I 1 might as well tell you so all at once how much the clothes I 1 bought in parts paris are just about gone ill have to get new ones ive made a list of what I 1 need and a thousand dollars Is a conservative estimate of the cost then weve got to have a new motor and I 1 want to put the children in private schools next nest fall both of them and meantime anne drew her breath and went on III 1 I want to take them to europe during their vacation we can cross on a cabin boat quite comfortably and then we could go straight to fontaine bleau and stay there nearly all summer the children can study french and I 1 can go on with mine and I 1 want vant to take up my music again it means a lot to me music and I 1 have neglected it 1 I know you have dear said neal and I 1 thought we might have some horses find and ride in the forest or of course if you could only come too it would be perfect but I 1 suppose you no said neal steadily of course not ill have to work all summer but I 1 do want you and the children to go ill book our passage right off if youre willing said anne and now about the house could you go g 0 with me this afternoon and look it over it occupied and I 1 have the key they went immediately after dinner the fine old house was in a sad state of dilapidation but neal had discernment enough to see that it was fine the house which he and anne had built in hansboro IlIn was a comfortable nondescript middle class home this properly repaired and furnished would become a residence of individual charm and distinction ds EL a suitable setting for a rising statesman the dignified background for his wife suppose we drive back and get the kids and dora and horace he be suggested if they all like it as much as we do I 1 guess we may just as well consider the question settled the day after the adjournment of congress congre sg neal left alone for hansboro facing the fact that as anne had once stayed there without him saving money that he be might spend it so he be must now stay there without her saving money that she might spend it ile he accomplished what he set out to do and more in fact his reputation as a lawyer of national and international note dated from that summer true he already had wide experience exper lenen and a large practice upon which to build the foundations for his fam were laid but it was only now that he began tile the brilliant superstructure super structure which was to bring him fame and fortune in june he permitted himself the tha brief luxury of going to washington to see how the improvements on the house were advancing and to accompany ills family from there to new ne W york when they sailed on the de grasse he did not leave Hin again until he returned to new york three months later to welcome them back again in the fall he returned uncomplainingly to mrs sammons cottage the two servants accompanying anne and nancy and the new french maids to georgetown just before congress opened again neal rejoined bli bis family anne had bad lone done her work well and the place ilace la in georgetown in its completely repaired and renovated condition BU surpassed his every expect expectation atlon As they sat before the library fire the evening of their reunion after n delicious and beautifully served dinner anne commenced outlining her plans for the winter 1 I am going to start my days at home right away she said bald that will give me time to get in three before christmas and I 1 think this year we had bad better have an occasional sunday ten tea as well now as to dinners with dora and horace reinforced by alphonsine and madeleine I 1 see no reason why we should hesitate to ask anyone here there Is just one hitch 1 I had a letter from harriet saying now that we have a guest room she feels sure we would like to have a long visit from her the h b 1 1 we would woul dill 1 said neal with vehemence and that she thinks she ought to do 10 her best towards influencing congress prohibiting the sale of tobacco in any form and limiting the sale of tea find and coffee she wants to lobby against them with this as a center good G dl ejaculated neal with sti still I 1 greater vehemence well what can I 1 do I 1 cant decline to allow your own and your 0 only sister to come to our house can wl I 1 no 0 0 0 I 1 suppose not hotter Better have her come at once and get her visit over with anne sighed but my problems dont end with harriet my mother has written too she says now that we have a spare room she Is 13 sure that we would be glad to have sol and sam come and stay with us and go to george washington university but if they start in a college course they will have to be here four years said neal aghast of course but as far as that goes we do not know that the legislation harriet Is interested in will be disposed of this session true too well we will just have to live in hopes its too bad honey just when you thought you had everything so nicely organized but I 1 guess it cant be helped anne wrote to her mother saying she would have a room ready for sol and sam by the firstos fIr first ot january and she wrote to harriet to come at once hoping that this aggressive lady would by some miracle prove sufficiently adaptable to her surroundings to be at least partially assimilated by them her hopes were groundless harriet arrived in the middle of annes annea first at home the day was stormy and she wore a serviceable hat fiat large black rubbers and a dingy brown mackintosh relieved believed of these and of her dripping umbrella she was disclosed clad in a high necked white cotton shirtwaist and a gray whipcord skirt shirt which was cut in multitudinous gores and finished around the bottom with braid anne had left her guests for a moment to see harriet comfortably installed in the precious guest room she was conscientiously cordial but she faltered a little 1 I thought you might like to pour tea for me a little while she said hesitatingly you could relieve mine estavy at five that will give you plenty of time to change your dress 1 I shall not take time to change harriet assured her briskly 1 I shall come down at once I 1 see there are a number of people here and I 1 certainly shall not lose this opportunity to talk about the evils of smoking tea and coffee it be better to wait and do that at some meeting suggested i anne at strictly social affairs affa irs like this we dont bring up debatable questions that shows you are not really interested te in great causes said harriet brushing her hair back flatly from her high forehead 1 I shall have no such scruples I 1 am conscious of the frivolity into which you have led neal but I 1 shall try to counteract such an influence As to meetings I 1 shall attend those too of course in fact I 1 shall hold some here I 1 can see there I 1 la Is plenty of room for them in this large house which you have so extravagantly trava gantly purchased regardless of the fact that you already had bad a beautiful home in hansboro IlIn the first person whom harriet approached pro ached on tile the subject near to her heart chanced to be senator lassiter Lass lter immensely amused he shepherded harriet skillfully to the sun parlor and encouraged ed her to talk conveying the impression that he agreed perfectly with everything she had bad to say when late in the afternoon he was relieved by neal he left her with the happy idea that she had made a convert the misleading philanderer however wandered oft off in search of anne laughing softly and claiming a reward what thanks do I 1 get for helping you out he asked no end of thanks she said with a smile as she leaned back in her chair ah but I 1 like something concrete would yon yoa ride with me tomorrow morning or let me take you to a concert in the afternoon neither you know we went all over that thoroughly last spring blythe after neal went away I 1 wont play with fire TO BB |